DONEGAL, PA. Roaring Run is a pretty place to hike on the western slope of rugged Laurel Ridge in the mountains of western Pennsylvania.

The state owned tract of nearly 3,600 acres in Westmoreland County is officially known as the Roaring Run Natural Area. It is 45 minutes east of Pittsburgh, and easily accessible off the Pennsylvania Turnpike.

The well known and popular preserve, part of the 60,000 acre Forbes State Forest, protects the entire splashy mountain stream with its Air Jordan 2010 watershed, a very untypical conservation development.

It is the largest of Pennsylvania’s 61 state forest natural areas.

Roaring Run is typical of the small streams in the Laurel Highlands. It Air Jordan 8s tumbles about 1,220 feet off Laurel Ridge with lots of pretty cascades and mini waterfalls. The five mile pristine stream is formed by numerous springs near the summit of Laurel Ridge.

Roaring Run empties into Indian Creek, itself a tributary of the Youghiogheny River, at the village of Champion.

The stream is designated as a Wilderness Trout Stream and an Exceptional Value Stream. The area is a designated Reptile and Amphibian Protection Area.

At the heart of the Roaring Run preserve is the 3.3 mile Roaring Run Trail that winds up the narrow valley with lots of stream crossings.

There are no bridges and the crossings can get tricky at high water.

From the trailhead off County Line Road on the preserve’s southern edge, the Roaring Run Trail follows an old railroad bed to the stream. It is an easy hike.

The valley is filled with oak, sassafras, hemlocks, mountain laurel, rhododendron, beech, jewelweed, blackberries, ferns, hawthorns, basswood and moss covered rocks.

The hike gets a little tougher as you make the 900 foot climb up the valley. After 3.3 miles, you can return along the trail or create a loop of 7.8 miles on other preserve trails: the Nedrow Road, McKenna and Painter Rocks trails. That requires some uphill hiking but offers some top of the ridge views.

In all, Roaring Run offers six short trails covering 14.5 miles that repeatedly interconnect. The trails are not always easy to follow. They are blazed yellow for hiking only trails and blue for cross country ski trails.

Roaring Run is a great place to explore in the late summer, when the stream is low and early fall when the leaves are changing and dropping. Spring wildflowers usually peak in late April.

Two of the attractions in the natural area are vistas from Painter Rock Hill on the north side of the Roaring Run valley and Birch Rock Hill on the south side.

One of the strangest is a monument Nike LeBron 12 off Nedrow Road to three children who were killed in an 1896 sleigh accident.

You can also get to Roaring Run at trailheads off state Route 31 or off Fire Tower Road.

Roaring Run was acquired by Pennsylvania in 1975. Before that, numerous roads had been built into the valley for logging.

Northern hardwoods can be found on north facing slopes, valley bottoms and in protected coves. Oaks dominate on south and west facing slopes.

Narrow bands of old growth chestnut oak occur along rock breaks, left behind by loggers because of the wood’s poor quality and the trees’ difficult location.

The area was initially logged in the early 1900s, when a railroad was built along Indian Creek to the town of Jones Mills. That line was later extended to Kregar. A tram road was then built along Roaring Run by the Blair Lumber Co.

There is no record of additional logging on Roaring Run until the mid 1960s, when a large area on Painter Rock Hill was clear cut.

After the logging, that land Jordan 9 Retro was sold to the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and later to the state.

Today the forest is still growing back. Most of the preserve is wooded with second and third generation growth forests. There are some recently abandoned farm fields and some that have reverted to woods.

Roaring Run is closed to all vehicles but is open for hiking, cross country skiing and, in season, hunting and fishing.

Long pants are recommended because of the heavy briar patches along the Roaring Run Trail.

To get to Roaring Run from Akron, take Interstate 76 east to the Ohio and Pennsylvania turnpikes. Exit the Pennsylvania Turnpike at Donegal. Take state Route 31 to the east. Turn right at Jones Mill on state Route 3 8/711. Go 1.1 Air Jordan 5s miles. Turn left on County Line Road. Look for a parking lot on the left after 1.8 miles.